26 Aug 10 - Derby

By Lou: It’s a sign of the times now that when we enter a new town, instead of looking first for the information centre or a caravan park, we make a note of break down services. And so we were not disappointed when we pulled into Derby and the first businesses we saw, in a row and exactly in this order, were car hire, welder and auto electrician.

We arrived in Derby in the afternoon and considered pushing on to Windjana Gorge National Park but thought Derby had enough to offer to warrant an overnight stay. One of the town’s claims to fame is having Australia’s highest tides, with variations ranging as high as 11 meters.
We headed out to the jetty just after high tide and could see a really strong run out back to sea. Craig was tempted to throw a line in but it wasn’t an ideal fish catching time and it would have taken longer to get his gear together than to have it in the water so had to make do with just taking photos. Next day we came back at low tide and could see mudflats for miles where turgid waters had bubbled 17 hours ago.

There are two caravan parks in town, and I was surprised to learn one of them didn’t accept children. I had heard of ‘no pet’ parks before but not ‘no children’. Thank goodness we haven’t come across ‘no dirty trailers’ parks. Fortunately the remaining park welcomed children and we set up for an overnight stay. The owner had also given us a tip that we had a choice of 2 magnificent sunsets; one across the wharf and another behind a large boab tree. We chose the latter as we are quite taken by the boabs that predominate in the Kimberly.



As we were conscious this stop would be our last powered and internet connected spot for a fortnight or so, in the evening we knocked over a few more blog entries to bring us up to only one month behind. It was nice to be tapping the keys outside in the lovely mild evening after many other blog update sessions were held outside in the cold using frostbitten fingers.

Next morning I had hoped to join a 9am tour of the local School of the Air but we couldn’t get ourselves organised in time. God help me going back to full time work. By the time we’d run a few errands we had 30 minutes to wait until the bottle shop opened so we sat in the carpark with a strong gathering of locals after the same thing. It was every man for himself once the doors opened at noon and it reminded me of Melbourne's Boxing Day sales. At one point there were so many slab loaded trolleys it caused gridlock. It was only the second time I’d seen a security guard outside a bottle shop, the first time also in the Kimberley at Broome.



By Craig: Derby, big sunsets, big ant mounds, big tides and big Boab trees





The sunsets were like you were almost standing close enough to touch the sun, bright golden orange and magnificent as a backdrop to the Boab tree.







The tide, sometimes 11 meters and when you visit the peir at low tide you can’t fathom where all the water has gone as you look at local fishing boats high and dry.




















Although Sam was amused by the large fat ant mounds I was amused by the fact that in days well past, the authorities kept turning large Boabs into prisons and attempted to shove as many local crooks into them as possible, short term only of course.

25 Aug 10 - Broome again

By Lou: As we had already spent time in Broome and were keen to get started on the Gibb River Road stint, we initially intended to stay only one night. However we were in a different caravan park this time and they had a spectacular pool, we needed to do laundry and I wanted to see the spectacle ‘Staircase to the Moon’ which was a couple of nights away so we stayed 3 nights. Sam was delighted to find our neighbours had 3 young boys so he wanted to stay for ever. It turns out our neighbours (Jaime and Jimmy) were shortly due to camp at Cape Levique with friends from the Mornington Peninsula…who turned out to be our camping mates from the Bungle Bungles. The Kelly-VCs and Cracknells had just hit Broome after doing the Gibb River Road so I rang them and we caught up on our last afternoon, having a picnic at Town Beach before watching the Staircase to the Moon. Renee and Lee joined us too and the kids had a run around at the waterpark. Just lovely.

The other reason for our stay was to await documentation to apply for new passports. We are having a small diversion from travelling Oz to a quick dash over to Disneyland in October with our long time friends the McConchies and Whites. Although it will be both a physical and cultural step left field, it’s a worthy celebration of 6 year old Luka successfully completing his 3 year treatment for leukemia. As it turned out I was missing some documentation so although Craig and Sam’s applications are in the pipeline, I will have to wait until we get to Kununurra to lodge mine.

By Craig: Second time around Broome didn’t look any different but we were able to catch up with friends again and enjoy viewing the ‘Staircase to the Moon’ which apparently only happens several times a year. Everybody heads to Town Beach and finds a spot to sit,chay and wait for the moon to rise.









Basically the staircase or appearance of, appears as the full moon rises, a beautiful experience although it did make me rethink reading the camera's instructions for night shots. Nah! Just tricking. I’m a male, I don’t read instruction manuals, as the poor quality of the photo shows.

22 Aug 10 - Middle Lagoon and Cape Leveque

By Lou: The Dampier Peninsular was just magic. We stayed 4 nights with Renee and Lee at Middle Lagoon campground which is an Aboriginal family owned and run property. What a champion woman that Renee is. With only a few hours notice, she was able to reconfigure her gear from the camper to her vehicle for 4 nights' camping, doing all the packing of swags and boxes on the roof of the vehicle all on her lonesome. And not a broken fingernail in sight.

From the campsite there were two beaches to walk to and lovely clear water to swim in. It was beautiful warm weather, and had a very laid back feel to it. The kids slept soundly after running in and out of the water all day while the adults enjoyed some time around a small campfire at night.





As Renee and Lee will be returning to Cape Leveque in a month or so with Evan, one day we left them beachside and headed for a day drive further up the peninsular.


We did a tour of Cygnet Bay pearl farm which was interesting and visited the two beaches at Cape Leveque.










It is a beautiful part of the world, and reminded me a little of Cape Gloucester near home, not so much in terms of the shoreline, but more the climate and pristine landscape where development is conspicuous by its absence.




























On the day of departure we had a final swim and headed to nearby Whale Song Café for beautiful homemade pizza and freshly squeezed juice overlooking a beautiful bay.


Lee is a very cute dude, and he delighted us all by referring to Craig as Crag. Cra-ag? Where’s Sam, Cra-ag?

















By Craig: Getting to some of these places is fun, no wonder the poor old trailer takes a beating.












Fishing, I love it and again I found myself in a beautiful location, Middle Lagoon. Close to shore the fish hadn’t been biting for a while however there is something about launching the tinny from the beach that just sets the right atmosphere for a relaxing day.




Unfortunately I managed to find the nursery and every fish caught, Schnapper, Trevally and Coral Trout were all undersize all except for an old Cod which I felt sorry for. After all it took a while and some surgery to get my lure back.
One other place in addition to Lou’s overview was Beagle Bay.








The church was an interesting feature although a little gaudy for my liking.














Where’s the bay? I kept asking myself, as it looked close to the coastline on the map and they did name it as a bay. Well after a while I gave in and asked two local lads. No bay around here brother, just a couple of muddy creeks and crocs.
Well no bay but at least we know how they got the other half of the name. OK so I’m guessing but the first thing we saw an arriving at the Beagle Bay Church was a Beagle dog, albeit a fat one.










Oh! And I almost forgot, the local signage had us in fits of laughter, possibly we have been on the road too long. You judge for yourself.

18 Aug 10 – Broome

By Lou: We have been on the road 7.5 months now and have only had to book ahead during school holidays. The notion of committing to where we will be in 7 days time is quite alien. Every now and then my dutiful sister asks “where shall I send the next lot of mail” and I respond “I don’t know, I don’t know where we’ll be tomorrow let alone 7 days!” Anyways, we had heard Broome was packed out for the winter so had rung ahead and made a booking (with deposit) only to break down in the Bungle Bungle and head in the total opposite direction. When we rang ahead to re-book we were told that the park was booked out until mid September! We ended up finding alternative accommodation but had to upgrade to an ensuite site to get in so are feeling very posh.

We made contact with some ExplorOz friends we had camped with at Lorna Glen Conservation Park who were plonked in Broome. Actually Evan is very respectably (temporarily) earning a crust out on an oil rig off Exmouth while his wife Renee and 4 year old son Lee are swanning about Broome. So Renee and Lee came over to our caravan park for a swim one arvo, and the next day we also spent together at Cable Beach and Willie Creek.

Had a leisurely day fishing (spag bol for dinner), boogie boarding (under 7s only), reading (I still haven’t finished today’s paper) and chatting (now you’re talking) and at the end of it we convinced Renee to come camping with us up the Dampier Peninsular at Middle Lagoon, just to break up the hectic pace of Broome until Evan returns. If we usually tear our hair out with Sam’s demanding behaviour, today was not one of those days. He and Lee played superbly and if you include the humpback whales doing a back flip in the far distant horizon, it was a great day out.

In the middle of all the frivolities we had the ubiquitous car troubles. First day it was a dead crank battery on the car and had to wait for the RAC to sort us out. Next day it was the deep cycle battery on the car which delayed our beach outing with Renee and Lee. Aside from the hit on the depleting bank balance, poor Craig looked like a beaten man. Is there no end to this, he implored to no-one in particular. Poor love. Personally I felt the same frustration I had felt at Alice Springs – all these touristy things to do and we seemed tied down to the caravan park with housekeeping and maintenance matters. Sam and Craig escaped to the caravan park pool while I did some bill paying and Sam scored a nasty bee sting. At the time he went to bed his knuckle was slightly swollen but by morning his hand had puffed up to twice its size. Off to the chemist for some antihistamine. I think it’s a credit to his general well being that he is so shocked when something in his body goes wrong. Between accumulated fears of crocs, stingers and poison from bee stings its amazing he went to sleep at all that night.

As there was a chance we could be far from a polling booth come election time we voted early in Broome. I can confirm it’s slim pickin’s whether you are on the east coast or west coast. Funny that.


By Craig: ‘Beach bum’ has taken on a new meaning after the drive on northern Cable Beach. My god they crack me up or as it was, cracks up, nudists everywhere and not one of them under 60. Good on’em I say! A suntanned bum at the age of 60+ and with evidence of gravity working at its best is something to aspire to. No photos permitted. (except of the beach)






Not one to miss out on a spot of fishing, lines were set and what better place could you think of to kick back for a few hours. Didn’t catch a bloody thing but had a great time trying, that’s why they call it fishing. If a fish was a guarantee they’d call it catching!

By Sam: I don’t have anything spectacular to write about. Actually, I saw nudies on the beach and it was pretty gross. I had fun playing with my friend Lee and we built sand castles and huts with the magnets and we had lots of fun. The funniest things is Lee got his shovel out and he was scraping rock. It was hilarious.

14 Aug 10 - Kununurra to Broome

By Lou: By now, my faith in the trailer was severely compromised and I wasn’t in the mood to head bush for 14 days just waiting for the moment Craig would utter those familiar words, “Trailer’s gone again”. I needed a holiday from this nonsense.


So we agreed to head straight to Broome on the bitumen and have a seaside holiday and reconsider the whole Gibb River Road experience.

Just out of Fitzroy Crossing we visited Gieke Gorge,









where we ran into camping neighbours we’d first met in Streaky Bay SA, then Roeburne WA and now Fitzroy Crossing. Small world.










By Craig: On our way to Broome we paid a quick visit to Fitzroy Crossing only staying long enough to buy an iced coffee and for Sam to kick a footy around with a couple of local boys.

We gathered some info on the local area and chose Gieke Gorge for an afternoon's sight seeing. Not a bad walk through sandy flats with an opposing view of the Gorge rock face.
Pity the walk basically went to nowhere and the area was very poorly signed but we were fortunate enough to sight a freshwater croc on the sandy back sunning himself and oblivious to the pack of sightseers.

With the road to Broome still too far for one hop we decided to stay in a free roadside camp for an overnighter. Nice spot although the bloke who came out of nowhere trying to sell a side of beef was a little strange. In fact alcohol may have had a little to do with his slur, he was tanked, so we baffled him with a little bullshit and with no sale he tripped into his ute and swayed off down the road.

12 Aug 10 – Kununurra and Wyndham

By Craig: The trailer-less Sunday drive out of the Bungles to Kununurra was effortless, bitumen all the way, that is after the 50km two and half hour heavily corrugated drive out of the Bungles. The trailer would follow and hopefully repairs would be quick. A couple of nights in tents would also have us appreciating the camper trailer a little more.

Kununurra was not the next planned stop but while we had little choice we may as well take a look around. Kununurra is typical of a medium size semi-remote WA town, with a reasonable amount of shops and other touristy stores, camping supply shop and town parks with numerous local hard workers laying about. We quickly planned a few out of town visits to a Sandalwood factory and Lake Argyle on the Ord River which is also home to the mega Ord River Dam, Wow! What a lake,
but first the trailer.

I woke early Monday morning heading out straight to the RAC station. I won’t say much about that as service wasn’t their best point and the only information I could get from the guy behind the counter was ‘oh that trailer’ ‘yeh go around to Metaland, that’s where we dropped it off’. Just as a point of interest we were lucky to have upgraded our RACQ membership as the 300km tow would have cost us $2K+.

Well after arriving at Metaland it was quickly established that little info had been provided to them as they were thankful to finally know who the owner of the trailer was and the reason the trailer was sitting in the middle of their yard. With repairs underway it was back to some sight seeing.

The Sandalwood factory provided an opportunity to check out a few products, soaps, creams and various smelly stuff however after a short drive Lake Argyle provided us with beautiful scenery and parkland to sit and ponder for a while.



The trailer was fixed rather quickly and all things looking good again we were back on the road. Wyndham seemed now the better choice allowing us to start the Gibb River Road from the east after a visit to the Boab Prison tree.

On the way to Wyndham we stopped by ‘The Grotto’, strange name but a great short walk into a gorge to a billabong. Cold water but the sun at least warmed the rocks enough for the resident Goanna.













Now Wyndham claims to have the biggest Boab tree. Well as Louise often says, every place we travel too brags of having the biggest this or that, although I have to admit it was bloody big.

The Boab was actually located within a carvan park and while we were in the park we met on of the local characters (Jack).

The road out to the Boab Prison tree was heavily corrugated and when we arrived at the prison tree we sighed in relief that the trailer had held up to the track.



Our relief was short lived as on the return trip back to Wyndham the spring hanger let go again. Hard to believe as the weld had looked so good and as a passing local farmer stopped to inquire if help was needed we simply said ‘No thanks we’ve done this before’. So again it was out with wire rope pullies and ratchet straps.

As the sun set we commenced a slow drive back to the caravan park in Kununurra and back the next day to the welder. Repairs completed and with renewed confidence we’re off to Broome and Cape Leveque.

Footnote: The guys at Metaland were astounded and could not find a simple solution to why the new section of steel had fatigued so quickly but their policy being no returns they simply got about fixing it and got us on our way.


By Lou: The drive from Bungle Bungles to Kununurra on bitumen was a welcome reprieve from the corrugations and it just felt liberating to be on the road again. We stopped at Turkey Creek roadhouse for dinner, and had a choice of roast, roast or roast (Sunday night is the chef’s night off). We chose roast and it was delicious. As we pulled out at about 5:30pm the sun was starting to set and we enjoyed watching the colour of the sky change from the orange and pink and purple twilight to starry darkness. In the distance we could see bright orange flames along hilltops, possibly some planned burns. We had rung ahead for a campsite so when we arrived at 8:30pm a map was waiting for us and we quickly set up camp and dossed for the night.

Next day while the trailer was being welded we hit the shops to stock up on supplies. We got a couple of books for Sam from an op shop and I noticed how upmarket the two op shops were. Not a lot of clothing items for under $10 an item. What is the world coming to when you can’t pick up an op shop bargain for $4? I thought the books Sam chose were beyond his reading ability but he was so keen on the idea of having his own books to read I didn’t want to quash his enthusiasm. I think he observed the oldest boy Josh, from the Bungle Bungle campground, often immersed in a good book and thought that might be a cool thing. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Finally, an interest in reading something other than comic books! One of the books, the classic Robinson Crusoe, I discovered to be rather violent and savage, so my eye rolling and tut tutting delighted Samuel even more. He actually made a fair crack of reading it out to us in the car but without being able to see all the words I think he made a bit up. Never the mind, praise, praise, praise!

We had originally intended to do the Gibb River Road, a popular 4WD trek, in a westward direction from Derby to Kununurra as we had been told the gorges get progressively more spectacular from that direction. However, now that fate had pushed us to Kununurra we figured we would just do it from east to west. And anyway, there was a lovely family from Queenscliff Victoria camped next to us who would also be heading that way.
So we thought we’d start by heading to Wyndham, famous for its crocs (largest we saw was 20m long and 3.5m tall) and checked out 5ways, the meeting point of 5 rivers.



I’d also read about a boab tree that was reportedly so huge it was used as an overnight prison for chained aboriginal prisoners so towards the end of the day we headed 23km out of our way to see that.
It was around 4:30pm not long after we left there that we started to head to El Questro but lo and behold the trailer springs failed again. The weld was not even 24hours old! So again, thanks to Craig’s bushman’s skills, within an hour he had us back on the road and crawling…back to Kununurra.